The Mexican government through the National Migration Institute in Baja, has announced that foreign migrants seeking asylum in the United States can now legalize their residence in Mexico if they make such request.

The decision of the Mexican government to give temporary residency to foreign migrants seeking asylum in the US came after Mexico has seen an unprecedented surge of migrants; mostly Haitians, once legally admitted in Brazil to work as cheap laborers as the South American country was preparing to host the olympic games. Brazil has since been plunged into political chaos and an economic recession, and with no prospect of jobs, Haitians, en masse are now leaving mostly on foot, seeking entry into the United States via the US-Mexico border.

According to Mexican officials, for the 2016 fiscal year alone some 11.000 migrants en route to the United States, via California, have gone through Tijuana. Last month, human rights organisations and Mexican officials in the city declared a humanitarian crisis after more than 2.000 migrants arrived in one day.

"Its an emergency that we need to address. We have always recognized that it is a critical phenomenon.'' said Rodulfo Figueroa Pacheco, head of the National Migration Institute in Baja,California.

Meanwhile, US immigration officials last month announced that they will end the halt of deportation of illegal Haitians the Obama administration implemented following a devastating earthquake in 2010 in Haiti, that had left over 200.000 dead and 1.5 millions homeless.

The US secretary of Homeland Secretary, Jeh Johson, said that the decision to deport illegal Haitians back to their homeland was because "the situation in Haiti has improved enough to allow the US government to expel Haitians on a more regular basis, in line with the practice used for nationals of other countries," But since that decision less than a month ago, the situation in Haiti has actually worsen, after the poor Caribbean nation was ravaged by the powerful hurricane Matthew last Tuesday. Over 1.000 are reportedly dead and another 350.000 have been left displaced by the strongest storm to hit Haiti in over 50 years.